Chocolate Peanut Butter Fudge

Last February, on the only day that we got more then a mere dusting of snow in Pittsburgh, we celebrated my grandparents’ 60th wedding anniversary. As in, 6-0. Sixty. Not 50, which is a feat in and of itself. SIXTY.

We made a day of it, starting with a big family lunch at a restaurant, then an early evening Mass with a special blessing, and finally back to my grandparents’ house for more food, cake, sweets and reminiscing. In between looking through old photo albums, I wandered over to the desserts table and filled my plate a little bit of everything. The one thing that stood out, though, was the fudge. Rich, creamy, chocolatey, and spiked with peanut butter. It was the stuff of dreams. When I asked my grandma about it, she said that it was her neighbor’s recipe, but that she had already left and that she would get me the recipe. It may have taken eight months, but the recipe finally made its way to me, and I wasted no time making my own batch. I swear, your life won’t be complete until you have this fudge!

With the holidays coming up, this would certainly be something fabulous to add to your baking list. It would make any Christmas cookie tray sparkle! Putting the pieces of fudge in individual mini papers or candy wrappers is always a nice presentation if you’ll be packaging it up to take somewhere. Just be prepared for the clamoring that will ensue, and be prepared to act as a mediator when it comes to doling out the last piece!

I’m not sure if spectacular homemade fudge is the key to staying married for sixty years, but it would certainly be worth a try, right?!

Ingredients:

Directions:

1. Butter an 8-inch square pan and line with parchment paper, using enough so that there is some overhang on the edges.

2. Combine the sugar, cocoa powder, evaporated milk and corn syrup in a large saucepan over medium heat. Cook, stirring constantly, until the sugar dissolves.

3. Add 2 tablespoons of the butter and stir until the butter melts. Allow the mixture to come to a boil, then cover and boil for 3 minutes.

4. Remove the lid and continue to cook, without stirring, until the mixture reaches 234 degrees F on a candy thermometer (soft ball stage). Remove from the heat and, without stirring, add the remaining butter, peanut butter and vanilla. Allow the mixture to sit for 10 minutes.

5. Using a wooden spoon, beat the fudge vigorously until it thickens and begins to lose its gloss (can take anywhere from 5 to 15 minutes). You can also transfer the mixture to the bowl of a stand mixer (or use a hand mixer) and beat it on medium speed, being careful to only mix until it thickens and loses its gloss. Do not overmix.

6. Immediately pour the mixture into the prepared pan. Allow the fudge to come to room temperature, then cover the pan with plastic wrap and chill it until set. Lift the fudge out of the pan and cut into 1-inch squares. The fudge can be stored in an airtight container at cool room temperature or in the refrigerator.

Hi Mariam, I don’t generally recommend substitutions, as the way the recipe is written is the way that I found works for me. I haven’t made the substitutions you mentioned so I can’t guarantee the results you’d have. If you do substitute and have success, please stop back and share your feedback!

Thank you so much for sharing this recipe! I get a little tired of the fudge recipes with marshmallow cream in them. This is perfect – especially since there’s no better combination of flavors in the whole world than peanut butter and chocolate!

This looks so yummy and the technique reminds me of my grandma’s classic fudge recipe! As with her recipe, I worry that I don’t know when to stop mixing! Is it fairly obvious to you when the mixture “looses it’s gloss”?? This is always the part that is the most challenging for me! Thanks!

Hi Mercedes, Unfortunately I don’t have a hard and fast answer, as it takes just a little bit of practice to get the feel for the consistency. It’s definitely possible to under beat or over beat, and I’ve done both in the past. Once you do it a few times, you get a feel for it.

Would someone please tell me what I did wrong, as I would like to make this fudge again. I attempted to make this for my husband on Saturday. It totally flopped. It never became solid enough to cut. I use the candy thermometer, boiled it until the needle reached 234, stirred it until it wasn’t glossy, let it cool to room temp and then slid in the fridge. I’ve had to dispose of the entire pan. I have a recipe for fudge that I use every Christmas season; its the one using the marshmallow cream, it comes out perfect each time. Help!

Rethea, could your candy thermometer be off? I let it go to 240 and it turned out perfectly. (It wasn’t intentional – I got distracted!) I replace my glass candy thermometers ever couple of years, just in case.

This is very similar to the fudge recipe we used to use with my grandma, except for the peanut butter. I did make this today and it turned out perfect! Very yummy. Since I have lost my grandmother’s recipe, I was wondering about using yours without the peanut butter. Would I need to add more butter to make up for the missing peanut butter? Thanks!

Hi Beth, I have not tried this without the peanut butter, but you won’t probably need at least a little more butter to account for the peanut butter not being in there. If you try it, I’d love to know how it goes!

in step 3, when it talks about boiling, what kind of boil are we talking about? A heavy boil vs. simmer? Did you find you had to turn it down to maintain that after you covered it? Or was that just to preserve the moisture?
Also, in step 4, how do you add butter and peanut butter without mixing? They’d just be a glop in the mix! Should I nuke these ingredients to melt them first? Sorry if this is obvious – I’m a complete baking n00b hoping to make something nice for my (rather culinary-inclined) girlfriend this SLiDeR Day (Singles/Long-Distance-Relationship Appreciation). Thanks so much for your help!

P.S. Slider Day is for everyone whose (possibly imaginary) significant other isn’t around so they can eat as many sliders as they want on Feb. 14. Pass it on, we’ll make it a movement.

Hi Sam, You want an actual boil, not a simmer. You just put the butter and peanut butter in there and don’t stir. Yes, they look like a glob, but they will start to melt as it sits, and then when you stir at the end they will get incorporated.

Thanks for this peanut butter fudge recipe. I think this is a “lost recipe” that I have been looking for. When I was a child there was a 14 minute peanut butter fudge that we used to make. This looks very much like it. Can’t wait to try it to see. Thanks so much.

Hi! I just made this and it tastes amazing!! Buuutt, the consistency isn’t quite firm enough, would that be due to the fact that I could only get it to heat up to 227 degrees, or did I not stir it in the end long enough?? Either way, it’s still delish c: and no one seems to mind using a spoon..hehe! Would be really good like this with vanilla bean ice cream c:

I tried this recipe tonight and not sure what went wrong. When I went to mix with a wooden spoon the mixture didn’t stay a liquid…..it turned into a mess that looked like sand. Any ideas on what I might have done wrong?

Hi Heather, It’s really hard to say since there are so many varying factors that could have went into it… However, if it didn’t slowly thicken when taken off of the heat, you may have heated at too high a temperature or for too long.

I made these yesterday and could have eaten the entire batch by myself. I forgot that my candy thermometer was broken so I had to kinda guess about the temp. As long as I keep them in the fridge until eating them it’s not a problem, but if I leave them out for more than 10 minutes…not so good.

HELP HELP HELP this is the correct taste of the fudge my mom used to make but it is not setting up correctly. My mom was having the same issue and the fudge does not harden what is the matter I filled the instruction as they are posted.

Wonderful recipe — the fudge turned out fantastic! I won’t be able to make it too often, though, since I ended up eating the entire pan, on my own, in less than three days. *Excellent* fudge, thank you!